replace an oil bath air filter with somethin else

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Sorry ran out of room in the subject line. I bought an old tractor and am fixing the little things wrong with it. The oil bath air filter is damaged and rusted out.

Can I replace it with a different style? I'm thinking of hitting up the motorcycle shops. I would peefer foam or paper over a K&N.

Will the other style be too restrictive and cause the carburater to run too rich?
 
There is nothing inherently wrong with oil bath filters ... they are quite effective at keeping contaminants out of the combustion chamber. After all, that is what we expect air filters to do.

You can replace an oil bath filter with a pleated filter, or foam type, if you want. But don't expect it to be more effective, it will just be different (and cost more money to maintain over time).

There should be no effect on the mixture, regardless of which filter media you choose. If the filter is too restrictive, maybe then it would cause the engine in some situations to run rich. But not if it flows at least as much air as what it's replacing.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
no the whole housing is smashed. The bottom cup wont even fit correctly.

Bummer.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Sorry ran out of room in the subject line. I bought an old tractor and am fixing the little things wrong with it. The oil bath air filter is damaged and rusted out.

Can I replace it with a different style? I'm thinking of hitting up the motorcycle shops. I would peefer foam or paper over a K&N.

Will the other style be too restrictive and cause the carburater to run too rich?


What's the carb dimensions ?

Holdens, the air cleaners used to spigot over an about 3" diameter, 3/4" high machined spigot in the oilbath days, and they just carried that on to the paper filter days.

Down here, you can get simple aftermarket filter assemblies for $20 that would replace them (either of them).
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: Chris142
Sorry ran out of room in the subject line. I bought an old tractor and am fixing the little things wrong with it. The oil bath air filter is damaged and rusted out.

Can I replace it with a different style? I'm thinking of hitting up the motorcycle shops. I would peefer foam or paper over a K&N.

Will the other style be too restrictive and cause the carburater to run too rich?


What's the carb dimensions ?

Holdens, the air cleaners used to spigot over an about 3" diameter, 3/4" high machined spigot in the oilbath days, and they just carried that on to the paper filter days.

Down here, you can get simple aftermarket filter assemblies for $20 that would replace them (either of them).
it clamps onto a pipe about 1.5 inches
 
In tweaking a VW Bug way beck when I swapped the oil bath for a paper filter. I noted little change in the mixture, the plugs indicated a slightly leaner mix.
No hesitation. Air cooled motors can be damaged by going lean so I watched it closely.
 
Charlie's '46 Ford dump truck was a weekend warrior. It had an oil bath filter. Charlie used to back off the wing nut and fill the dish with a 1/2 cup of gas And then jump the dead 6volt battery he kept in in it. Flash forward 30 yrs. My Willys Overland do Brasil, non working fuel gauge, ran out of gas. I got some gas and opened the hood to prime. Deja vu all over again. IT had the exact same air cleaner. Instead of removing it, I just followed my mentor.
grin2.gif
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Eddie
I suspect that a modern paper air filter is much more efficient and would change out the oil bath filter. Ed


Maybe.... But Don't EVER let it get rained on. One thing about these old tractors with an oil bath - kept right, they were very very very very weather resistant. They were of durable (from branches, etc).

Take away the old oil bath, and you might end up with something that is MUCH more susceptible to damage. Both physical contact and also weather wear.
 
I would never take the oil bath off a tractor. Dust can be a huge issue with tractors. Raised snorkel pipe, glass jar dust catcher and a good oil bath any day for me. Empty the dust jar once a day. Flush and re-oil the OB cleaner once a week during plowing season.

You'd spend $50~$100 on paper elements in a two week plow. Maybe $10 on oil, if that. You can use old crankcase oil for the air filter
laugh.gif
 
Great thing about that Donaldson is that you can hook the dust stack to the exhaust and it will continually vacuum out the heavy elements while reducing service intervals as a result.
 
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